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Monday, January 30, 2017

Conquering the Uncertainty of Our Times

Prophetic Warnings are not News Updates

Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off (Proverbs 23:17-18 ESV). And, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3 ESV).

We would like to confidently share this conviction in the name of the Lord that Christians who rely on certain events to happen first before they take their salvation seriously will be caught unawares like the five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:3). The Lord said, there will be ‘sudden destruction’ (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Some two weeks ago, the Lord reminded me that His coming is near and what saddens Him is that certain Christians are only looking to apocalypticworld events to live temporarily obedient. The danger is, some Christians treat the Lord’s teachings which are aimed to prepare them for fruit bearing and Christian service disrespectfully (Ephesians 4:12). Sadly, but true, some are treating prophetic websites like ours as ‘news sites.' They are only interested in ‘news’ from the Lord, and if His coming is promising according to them, they will remain in the ‘pocket, ’ but if His coming appears distant, they continue as distant followers. Undoubtedly, this is a dangerous position of hypocrisy do we really think we are smarter than God? The Lord knows that such believers have no love for Him as their action show. If we don’t allow the Lord’s teachings to purify us and rendering us blameless, then we may suffer the consequences of the prophecy which says, “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile”… [But] those fearing God shall become “let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy"(Revelations 22:11 NIV).

There is currently a trend amongst Christians to ‘prophecy’ end-time related events when certain things happened around the world to the excitement of many, and sadly, the non-discerning are led into confusion and faith failure (1 Timothy 1:19). When the things ‘prophesied’ failed to materialize their faith goes into a ’dormant’ stage until the next event occurs and interpreted as relating to the Coming of the Lord and those who do not guard against the times ‘awakes’ resumes their faith until the next event (Matthew 25:1-13). I sincerely pray that this message is serving as a warning to those Christians who are not taking their salvation serious. The Lord’s prediction in the preceding scripture will find fulfillment in them.

God Cannot Be Fooled

If as Christians we maintain a double standard of living having faith but living contrary to the faith we profess, our fruit will judge the quality of our obedience to the Lord (Romans 2:6; 2 Corinthians 5:10). From our experience with the Lord, we learned that no excuse we may try to offer can ever stand up against the Lord’s judgments (Romans 2:12-15). Indeed, we may succeed being ‘clever’ and deceiving people, but God will reveal the deceitful intentions of our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10).

Being involved in ministry work, we have seen over the years how many people expressed passionate obedience and love to the Lord, and their works were in agreement with their intentions, however, when evil thoughts and ill-feelings entered them the spirit of excuses manifest. When this happen, the pleasure of sin consumes them and the defense to appease the conscious is excuses. Therefore, in the end, we have a ‘clever’ Christian who is well-trained in the ‘art’ of deceitfulness. Let me be direct, do you think your clever manipulations will escape God’s attention? (Galatians 6:7).

We thus confidently testify that some time ago the Lord revealed to us that He looks into people’s heart's intentions and the evil that entices them into disobedience. When we embrace what He despises and use excuses to justify our behavior we sin consciously (1 Peter 2:16; Romans 1:20). Thus, the ‘bulk’ of evidence against our motivation whatever drove us to be it greed, lust or hatred comes from the heart (Luke 6:43-45; Matthew 15:19). Thus, whichever way we may try to turn for answers to conceal our heart's intentions, the Lord righteousness we simply cannot escape (Hebrews 4:13; Proverbs 5:21). At the end who is the fool!

Overcoming Uncertainty

As humans and since we cannot tell the future, our response to things that could adversely affect us would be met with uncertainty which would trigger every kind of survival techniques. Thus, our natural instinct would lead us to some defense mechanism to survive the uncertain situation. This fear in uncertainty does not have faith as a shield (Ephesians 6:16), instead of melancholy sets in and people look to sources other than the Lord for solutions. If this happened then our faith, which holds our hope has soundly deserted us. Fear drives Christians who accepts solutions outside the Lord's council, and they are driven to create temporary solutions (Numbers 14:4). We are not talking about a genuine believe a person has when expressing his or her faith. In fact, as the above scripture suggest, if we fail to obey the Lord’s command as in the incident in the preceding verse we create a solution in our uncertainty against the will of God.

Also, to fear, anxiety and curiosity are amongst the sensations we experience when times of uncertainty strikes. Now, whichever manifest it leaves the human soul without peace, and as long as the situation endures, the feeling to rid oneself of the unwanted sensation will continue. Depending on our relationship with the Lord, if we have entrusted our wellbeing to Him our faith would conquer the fear and anxiety that flows from uncertainty.

In our concluding remarks, are we curious about the future? Are certain world events filling you with fear and anxiety? If so, examine your relationship with the Lord and respond by faith to the convictions from the Holy Spirit and you need not fear. Be consistent as a Christian in your conduct, faithful in truthful and humble service and everybody will know the love of the Lord has been perfected in you.

As always, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this linkPrayer of Sincere Repentanceby faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact usfor any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.